1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of card games. More specifically, the present invention relates to embodiments of theme-based card games for two or more players wherein points are scored by comparing cards from each player's hand and subjectively deciding which cards prevail.
2. State of the Art
Card games have long been a favorite pastime for both adults and children, and a multitude of different games have been developed over the years in order to accommodate the varied interests of players. Many well-known games, for example, have been adapted for playing with a standard deck of fifty-two cards containing four suits of thirteen cards from ace through king in each suit. Another popular class of games involves using decks of cards that are based on a particular common theme, such as sports, geography, fictional characters, or any other general topic of interest. The playing cards for these theme-based games typically include pictorial and/or statistical information related to various aspects of the game theme, with the statistical information on each card determining the value of the card or the outcome of game variables.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,997 to Bashirzadeh discloses an example of a theme-based game using a deck of informational playing cards printed with a particular class of items within a given theme. Each card contains a picture representing a member of the class, for instance, a sports team or a geographical location, and a list of statistics relating to that specific class member. Players are dealt a hand of cards from the deck, and a series of rounds commences wherein the players try to win cards from each other based on a selected statistical category. In each round, the player having a card with the best numerical value for that statistical category prevails and takes the other players' cards. The player having the most cards at the end of a predetermined period of play wins the game. U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,043 to Carter discloses another theme-based card game that simulates the playing of baseball. Teams are formed from a set of player cards, with each player card including statistics for an individual baseball player, such as run production rate, stealing frequency, injury ratings, and fielding capabilities. Rolls of dice establish which statistical data on a card is used to govern the outcome of various plays. Comparisons of the selected data on offensive and defensive player cards then determine whether a play results in a hit, steal, run, out, or other possible play outcome.
While card games of the type described above offer some degree of variability, they rely primarily on comparisons between set values printed on each card to determine the outcome of game play. Accordingly, players' results are generally bound by the cards they receive, which may be based solely on the random result of tossing a die or drawing a card from a shuffled deck. Such limitations do not allow a player's subjective input to exert any control over game play. In view of the foregoing, providing a theme-based card game wherein players subjectively decide the value of a card rather than using set values would increase interaction between players and make the game more entertaining.